Text / UI

PixelStorm gives you two paths for drawing text:

• Application::DrawText()
• UI::Print()

Both routes end up in the same text queue. The difference is mostly convenience.

Anchors

Text drawing now supports anchors so you can center a label without manually adjusting its position.

Anchor	Effect
TextAnchor::TopLeft	default, no offset
TextAnchor::TopCenter	centers horizontally
TextAnchor::TopRight	aligns the top-right corner
TextAnchor::MiddleLeft	centers vertically
TextAnchor::MiddleCenter	centers horizontally and vertically
TextAnchor::MiddleRight	aligns the middle-right edge
TextAnchor::BottomLeft	aligns the bottom-left corner
TextAnchor::BottomCenter	centers horizontally and aligns the bottom
TextAnchor::BottomRight	aligns the bottom-right corner

Application::DrawText

This is the base method.

Parameter	Use
text	string to draw
position	position in logical pixels
color	RGBA tint
scale	text scale
followCamera	world text or fixed HUD
anchor	alignment relative to position

Rules

• empty strings are ignored
• text is queued and drawn later
• the current default font is used

Example

app.DrawText("Loading...", Vec2(320.0f, 180.0f), Colors::White(), 1.0f, false, TextAnchor::MiddleCenter);

UI

UI is a static wrapper over the active application.

Method	Use
Bind(app)	connects the application
Unbind()	breaks the connection
Print(...)	queues text

When To Use It

• in scenes, so you do not have to pass Application & everywhere
• in gameplay code where you want a quick HUD access point

Example

UI::Print(
    "Press Interact to change scene",
    Vec2(320.0f, 180.0f),
    Colors::White(),
    1.0f,
    false,
    TextAnchor::MiddleCenter);

World Text and Fixed HUD

Case	followCamera
HUD	false
NPC name label	true
contextual help	false

Mixed Example

UI::Print("Score: 120", Vec2(12.0f, 12.0f), Colors::White(), 1.0f, false);
UI::Print("Merchant", npc.Transform().GetPosition() + Vec2(0.0f, -24.0f), Colors::White(), 1.0f, true);

ToString() from pixelstorm/core/Math.h is useful here when you want to show values like positions or coordinates:

UI::Print("Pos: " + ToString(player.Transform().GetPosition()), Vec2(12.0f, 28.0f), Colors::White(), 1.0f, false);

Practical Notes

• UI::Print() does nothing if UI::Bind(app) was not called
• the default PixelStormMini.ttf font is loaded automatically by Application
• if you replace the default font, remember to set it as the new default before drawing text

tip

If UI::Print() does not draw anything, first check that UI::Bind(app) was called and that a default font is available.